Grand Rapids’ U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten and U.S. Representative Haley Stevens of Detroit spoke at Catherine’s Health Center, a nonprofit clinic in Wyoming. Scholten says cuts to Medicaid funding would have a devastating effect on communities and health centers.
“There is a reason Republicans rolled this out at midnight on Thursday as we were all leaving town last week and that is because this is a deeply unpopular plan.”
Republicans are looking to slash federal spending by cutting billions of dollars from Medicaid. Democrats say that threatens health care coverage for 80 million U.S. adults and children enrolled in the program. Stevens said Democrats are willing to work with Republicans on cutting federal spending but doesn’t believe gutting Medicaid is the answer.
“We’ll have that conversation about bureaucracy and red tape and efficiency, but I don’t think cuts to Medicaid are going to be delivering for the people of West Michigan.”
The GOP-controlled Congress is considering work requirements for Medicaid, or paying a smaller, fixed rate to states. Both Scholten and Stevens say this process is just beginning.
